Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Carrot and Cashew Nut Roast

With the Christmas holiday season a mere month away you might want to start thinking about some festive roasts that will appeal to veggies and non-veggies alike. This is an easy to make loaf that I've made in the past for various family get-togethers and it's very well received by omni's so put this on your to-do-list while you still have time. Bonus points here as this recipe is freezer friendly. Those kind of recipes are always at the top of my list because you sure don't want to be the one left behind on Christmas Day slaving over a hot stove. This nut roast is also delicious served cold so no need to even worry about keeping it hot if you don't want to. I got this recipe from a beautiful cookbook called "The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook" (Chris Hardisty/Smithmark). I love this cookbook because it has a full color photo with each and every recipe! I received this book as a xmas gift from my DD Nicole in 1994 so it's been on my shelf for quite a while. Seeing photos inspires me more than anything else to try out a recipe. I personally think cookbooks without photos should be illegal! j/k!! But it makes such a impact to actually be able to visualize the finished product. I'm sure that factor is what makes food blogs so popular. Works for me! Now on to this fabulously easy recipe.

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft.2. Mix together with all the other ingredients and season to taste.3. Place in the mixture in a greased loaf pan.4. *Cover with foil* and bake at 350F for one hour.5. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes.6. Leave to stand in the baking pan for at least 10 minutes before turning out.

Freezing: This loaf can be frozen at the end of step 3. When required, remove from the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator then continue from step 4 or freeze at the end of step 6.

*I used Better than Bouillon(vegetarian no chicken soup base) because I didn't have yeast extract. Don't think it's crucial -- whatever you have on hand should suffice.*

*If you are leaving your nut roast to eat cold the next day I would use 1/2 cup of carrot stock as overnight the breadcrumbs tend to absorb some of the moisture causing it to be a little drier. *

*Foil -- if you can the next time you need to replace your aluminium foil roll consider buying the If You Care 100% recycled aluminium foil. It is made using only 5% of the energy required for regular foil. http://www.ifyoucare.com/*

Veggie Prairie Girl RamblesI think you could easily sub either 1 cup of quick oats or cornflake crumbs for the 1 cup breadcrumbs and still have a very nice loaf. Also, I'm quite sure any ground up nut would work in the place of the cashews even though I know that cashews are a very nice rich tasting nut. If you have allergies to cashews or don't have the means to grind up nuts you could always buy a package of ground almond meal from your local health store. I'm a huge peanut butter fan so I think I might try fresh roasted peanuts next time round.

If I were to make this with peanuts, instead of carrot stock I would sub tomatoe juice, based on other peanut loaf recipes I've made. The peanut and tomatoe compliment each other and the sweetness if the carrot would go great together.